Report of the Chair

It is now time for the Chair’s Report.

This board suffered a tremendous loss at the end of September with the sudden passing of Trustee Pete Mehas. We had a chance to honor his memory at services in Fresno in the beginning of October. Pete made an indelible mark on the entire educational community through his decades of educational leadership and service to the California State University.

He will be remembered as a champion for all students, for his professional integrity and commitment to the university's mission, and as a friend to us all.

On a personal note, I will miss Pete's counsel and his deep commitment to the governance of the CSU. I selected Pete to the lead the search for the new president of Fresno State, which brought us President Joseph Castro. Pete's dedication to his alma mater, sensitivity to the needs of students and the campus community and keen understanding of the needs of the Fresno community made him the perfect leader for this search. I continue to be grateful that Pete helped us secure strong leadership for Fresno State to continue its legacy of educational excellence.

Pete was an extraordinary person, a dependable leader and a tireless advocate for the CSU. All of us will miss him greatly. We extend our deepest condolences to Demi, their daughters, and to all of his friends and family.

I want to once again extend a very warm welcome to our newly appointed faculty trustee, Cal State Northridge professor Steven G. Stepanek. Steve has served as chair of the CSUN Computer Science Department since 1999 and as professor since 1993. He has held multiple positions at the University since 1972, including academic consultant, operating systems analyst, lecturer and assistant, associate and full professor. He is also a product of the CSU, having earned a Master of Science degree in computer science from CSUN.

He is well known to many of us, having worked on several systemwide projects. He will be a wonderful addition to the board.

Welcome, Steve.

I am very pleased to announce that Cal Poly San Luis Obispo's architecture program was just ranked the number one architecture program in the nation by the Greenway Group. The ranking was announced last week in the publication Architectural Record, and the official report will appear in the November-December publication of Greenway's publication, Design Intelligence. Congratulations to Cal Poly SLO on this impressive and well-deserved honor.

I am pleased to announce that the National Science Foundation has awarded Cal Poly Pomona the largest grant in university history: $7.7 million. The five-year NSF grant was given to the university's Center for Excellence in Mathematics and Science Teaching, which works to improve teaching of science and math at all educational levels. The grant will be used to improve science education at the elementary school level.

This grant will become especially critical as California classrooms transition to the Common Core standards. Congratulations to the entire team at Pomona's Center for Excellence in Math and Science Teaching.

That concludes the Chair's Report. It is now time for the Chancellor's Report.